News

December 2, 2011

Mic check! Mic check!

Occupy NCSU and Occupy Raleigh organized a welcome party Wednesday for John Stumpf, the CEO of Wells Fargo, who, with a salary of $19 million, is the highest paid bank executive in the country. Wells Fargo took over Wachovia during the 2008 banking crisis to become one of the four largest banks in the United States and ranks 23rd in the Forbes 500. Stumpf’s bank sponsors the lecture series at which he was invited to speak.

Occupy supporters were also prepared to bring their protest inside the lecture hall, which was open to students and the public. About 30 minutes into Stumpf’s speech, they started their “mic check” (a group speech where the crowd repeats one speakers’ words to amplify the message).

The mic check was a scathing indictment of Wells Fargo’s greedy, unethical, and even criminal business practices – including illegal foreclosures, high-interest student loans, and investments in for-profit prisons.

Protester at Embargo Wells Fargo.

The following is a transcript of the mic check (which was also videotaped), and we think it’s worth reading in full.

Mic Check!
Mic Check!
John Stumpf
We won’t take your home
but we will take a minute of your time.
Your leadership has led to
the death of the American Dream.

Wells Fargo is guilty
of widespread predatory lending
And holds over 5.7 billion in student debt.

Wells Fargo targets people of color
And the poor for high interest student loans,
urging loan officers to misreport income and forge documents.

Wells Fargo foreclosed
On hundreds of thousands of homes last year,
Many of them illegally.

Wells Fargo has been fined
85 Million dollars for its crimes,
You have issued no admission
Of guilt or apology.

Wells Fargo took 25 billion
In taxpayer dollars,
The larges bailout in bank history,
Yet reaped 4.1 billion last year
While paying no federal income tax.

You yourself made 19 million last year
Making you the highest paid bank CEO in America.

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The North Carolina State AFL-CIO is the largest association of local unions and union councils in North Carolina, representing over one-hundred and forty-thousand union members, fighting for good jobs, safe workplaces, workers’ rights, consumer protections, and quality public services on behalf of ALL working people.